Reddit’s CEO lashes out, Twitter gets evicted, and NYC delivery workers get a pay raise

June 18, 2023 ndowd

Hi, lovely people, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that highlights the top news in tech over the past week (or so). If you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday.

Reddit’s CEO lashes out: Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is not backing down amid protests against API changes made by the platform, Ivan writes. In interviews with The Verge, NBCNews and NPR, Huffman defended business decisions made by the company to charge third-party apps, saying that the API wasn’t designed to support these clients.

Subreddits go dark: In related Reddit news, more than 300 subreddits, including popular ones like r/aww, r/music r/videos, and r/futurology, went dark — preventing users from accessing them — indefinitely after a large protest against Reddit’s API changes ends on June 14. Over the last several days, (June 12-14), thousands of subreddits have joined in solidarity to protest Reddit’s aforementioned API changes, which will potentially shut down many third-party apps.

Twitter evicted: Twitter owes three months’ rent to its Boulder, Colo., landlord, and a judge has signed off on evicting the tech giant from its office there, court documents show. Since its takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter’s business has more or less fallen into disarray, and there have been numerous reports of unpaid bills.

Carvana comes crashing down: Carvana’s big rally is now looking more like a blip on the radar, Harri and Alex write. The company has secured billions in equity and debt financing since launching in 2013, and it’s bought a couple of startups — namely, Car360 and Adesa. But through it all, the company has yet to record a real profit.

Ransomware gang lists victims: Clop, the ransomware gang responsible for exploiting a critical security vulnerability in a popular corporate file transfer tool, has begun listing victims of the mass-hacks, including a number of U.S. banks and universities. The Russia-linked ransomware gang has been exploiting the security flaw in MOVEit Transfer, a tool used by corporations and enterprises to share large files over the internet, since late May.

Check skin conditions with Google Lens: Google’s enhancing Google Lens, its computer vision-powered app that brings up information related to the objects it identifies, with a useful new feature. Lens can now surface skin conditions similar to what you might see on your own skin, such as moles and rashes — working from an uploaded photo.

Minimum wage for NYC delivery workers: New York City has established a new minimum wage for food delivery workers who deliver for platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub and Relay. It should be a historic win for gig workers, but Rebecca writes about how both delivery workers and companies are unhappy with it.

YouTube lets more users monetize: YouTube is lowering the requirements for creators to get access to monetization tools under the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Specifically, the company is expanding its shopping affiliate program to U.S.-based creators who are already a part of YPP and have more than 20,000 subscribers.

Audio

TechCrunch’s podcast collection is the gift that keeps on giving — although this writer might be a little biased. Equity was off this week, but The TechCrunch Podcast revisited Inside Startup Battlefield, the four-part series that takes you behind TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition.

Found, meanwhile, featured Amy Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Authenticx, a Midwestern startup that helps insurance companies and medical organizations extract data from their call centers using AI.

And on Chain Reaction, Patrick Kaminski, the director of digital innovation for web3 and metaverse at L’Oreal, and Manon Cardiel, head of strategic planning and partnerships within web3 and metaverse at L’Oreal, spoke about their experiences in the burgeoning blockchain space.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:

Corporate America makes bets on AI: Hype or not, the potential of AI has tech companies enamored, and businesses large and small have begun betting heavily on efforts that leverage AI in some fashion to spur their growth to new heights. Alex and I investigate.

Small VCs have a diversity impact: Smaller funds — especially those that have $50 million or less in assets under management — are helping to usher in a new wave of diversity within venture capital. As Dominic writes, the latest crop of investors stems from historically overlooked or marginalized communities that are setting up funds and then investing back in those funds.

Approaching building AI in healthcare: Rebecca writes about how some founders are approaching AI in healthcare with the appropriate amount of caution, considering the ethical implications of their startups’ technologies before deploying them widely to customers.

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